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Business & leisure travel

MaryAnne Howland

Travel: Mixing Business with Leisure

You've been assigned to go on a business trip. But, this time, you've been lucky enough to score a Friday. Go ahead, make it a long weekend and, best of all, bring along that happy face that usually looks so forlorn whenever they see that luggage bag laid across your bed, And instead of promises of souvenirs, give them the best gift of all, quality time with you. Or, if traveling single, take advantage of a situation that puts you in charge of charting your own new adventure. Whether alone or with family, go beyond the boundaries of your next business trip and take advantage of an opportunity to add a well-deserved mini-vacation with little to no extra expense.

Time for Yourself ...

If you're traveling on your own, the world is your oyster. Finding the pearl is only a few clicks away. The most popular general travel sites such as Expedia.com, Travelocity.com and Orbitz.com offer a daily fare of deals and destination specials that are up-to-the-minute. Soulofamerica.com is a rich resource for culturally relevant information about destinations in the U.S., the Caribbean, and around the world. A calendar of events and listings of attractions with descriptions, schedules and websites provide essential tools necessary to personalize your travel plans. Other valuable resources to assist your serendipitous escape from routine include your credit card and other affinity programs that offer travel discounts and benefits.

There are additional benefits to piggybacking some personal vacation time onto your business travel. Often, you can save your company or your client money on airfare by adding a Saturday night stay. Or you can use the savings to cover additional costs for an extra night hotel stay, and create a win-win for everyone. If you're traveling for your own business, there also may be some tax advantages to mixing business with leisure. Be sure to talk to your tax advisor before you go for details on now to track expenses.

When your time is short, look for a hotel that is conveniently located to the activities you enjoy or that has all the amenities you prefer such as fitness center, spa, a fine restaurant or night life, If you need to rent a car, it's worth it to reserve ahead of time so that you avoid losing time waiting in line.

... Or Bring the Family

Despite your reservations, a long-weekend or midweek trip with your children can break up the monotony of a school week and even enhance their education with a rich experience while staving involved with school work, Like most anything in life, planning ahead is the key to success. With today's resources and internet access, your business trip can turn into a fun and educational family getaway with a few reliable resources and advance preparation.

In fact, according to the Travel Industry Association, yours could be one of the tens of millions of business trips that include children. And the travel industry has more than taken notice of this growing trend, it is taking special care of the needs of professionals with children. Hotel chains such as the Hyatt, Ritz-Carlton, Westin, Loews, Hilton, Days Inn and even Four Seasons offer special discounts, amenities, and packages that make a business excursion turned family adventure more convenient and affordable. Most hotels allow children to stay free with their parents and many offer lower hotel rates for Friday and Saturday nights. Typical family-friendly hotels are very familiar with the restaurants where kids can eat free and the most popular attractions for all ages. Also: remember to ask your travel agent for recommendations on favorite family-friendly locations.

If it's a midweek trip, inform the teacher and ask for a curriculum of study while away. For teenagers, this will give them something to do during the day while you're in meetings. Teenagers also might enjoy an assignment of choosing things to do together later such as sightseeing trips, recreational activities, special events and restaurants in a new city. Supervision is likely a concern and a challenge for which many hotels offer a solution such as Loews Hotels' VIT (Very Important Teen) program. Younger children can enjoy spending time at children's programs offered at many hotels.

Besides creating another wonderful memory, one of the greatest rewards of bringing your child along is that they get to better understand your work and may become less resentful of your next trip away from home. Another is the sense of well-being you get from sharing an important part of your life with those you love.

Be Prepared for a Fast Getaway:

* Enroll yourself--and the kids--in every airline frequent flier program so that you broaden your ability to take advantage of a variety of flight options and discounts.

* Join frequent-stay hotel programs such as Wyndham-by-Request, Starwood Preferred and LoewsFirst where members get extra perks which can include mileage points, free upgrades, later check-out and more.

* Enroll in car rental programs for the added perk of guaranteed reservations and express pick-ups.

* Travel with e-tickets, use the self-service kiosks to get boarding passes and you're off to the gate.

* Go on-line prior to travel to choose your own seat assignments and enter special travel requests.

* Keep all your travel benefit-related information organized.

On-the-Go With Children:

* Research your child-care options before you go.

* Avoid peak travel times.

* Check your luggage at curbside, collect your boarding passes and go straight to security check.

* If you have carry-on-luggage, go to on e-ticket kiosk to check-in and get your boarding passes to avoid long waiting lines.

* Allow for extra airport time for security check.

* Enroll in airline clubs where you can relax during an extended layover or should you be fortunate enough to sail through security.

* When traveling with young ones, it is essential to always remember to pack a sandwich or snacks.

* Your computer can become a movie theatre on plane rides and in your hotel room.

Kid-Friendly Hotels, Great Deals and Things to Do:

* fourseasons.com--click on business travel, then younger guests for amenities, family-oriented activities, childcare.

* Radisson.com--for great deals on last minute travel.

* starwood.com--for best rates and special last minute weekend getaway deals.

* wyndham.com/specialoffers--just that loewshotels.com/specialoffers.

* citysearch.com--for things to do while you're there.

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